1 in 5 Americans are Poor
Published August 22, 2009 @ 11:34AM PT
As summer melts away and non-profit organizations gear up for a difficult fall, anti-poverty activists need an accurate picture of just how tough it is out there. Following up on Greg's great post from Thursday that captured the growth of hunger nationwide, we offer now a quick summary of the latest recessionary figures:
- 37.3M people were living below the official poverty line in 2007; 2008 should see another 1.5M added, for a statistically significant growth to 12.7% of the population. Experts anticipate an even worse result by the end of '09, and estimate we could hover around 15% of the population officially considered living in poverty. Even acknowledging how outdated this poverty measure is, we have not counted 1 in 7 people living in poverty since the recession of the early 1990s. And if historical census figures that include the "near poor" are anything to go by, we can expect 1 in 5 people, or 20% of Americans, to be living in or near poverty by the end of this year.
- The national unemployment rate is 9.4%, and is expected to hit 10%. The jobless rate is likely double, as the unemployment rate only includes those actively seeking work. 6.5M jobs have disappeared since the beginning of 2008.
- Each day brings an average of 10k foreclosures. Almost 2M Americans will lose their homes in 2008; unemployment is supplanting subprime lending as the #1 foreclosure trigger.
- More formerly middle-class families are living in poverty. 61% of all Utahns seeking help with economic hardship this year were new to the system. The fastest growing group without health insurance are those earning between $50k - $75k per year. Suburban areas have seen family homelessness grow by 56% nationwide.
Now go forth and craft your organization's grant proposals! The Foundation Center has a handy chart of which foundations are ramping up or scaling back in response to the recession. For the rest of us, the need for volunteers, resources, and empathy has never been greater.
(Photo by Ed Yourdon)
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Comments (11)
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Author
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Leigh is a PhD candidate in urban planning at MIT, and a consultant on U.S. Gulf Coast recovery. She sits on the Board of the Allston-Brighton Community Development Corporation in Boston, and has worked with non-profits, foundations and local governments on policies and programs aimed at reducing urban poverty and inequality.
Featured Poverty in America Actions
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Repeal the Hyde Amendment!
88 People
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Repeal the Hyde Amendment!
Photo's do not show the broken spirit of the poor. If this is a homeless person, and not some traveler taking a nap- then this is a woman, has just stated her downward spiral of sleeping in the rough.
IF the measuring cup is broken, as if it has a defect or an hole in it. The Measure is OFF.
I will not be surprised to learn 1 in 2 are in poverty if this bill if Congress passes or even 3 out of four. Let us take a full account of those paid less then the amount of bills which is barely getting by. When we no longer a cup with a hole in it to measure.
Our means of describing poverty is Broken. Because Americans only count those unable to feed themselves. Change.org makes people aware that the rate of poverty should include those who cannot pay their rent, and other utilities.
Rents Fair market values differ from stat to state they average about $18.00 an hour for 40 hours. But many people making less than $10. an hour for 17 hours a week. Will some math wizard do the math? That is falling behind 8 dollars an hour when working having 23 hours missing income.
People should be valued enough to be paid enough to pay their bills.
This womens problem started long before she hit the streets.
Posted by jan Lightfootlane on 08/22/2009 @ 03:42PM PT
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I agree with Jan. The number has GOT to be at least something more like 1 in FOUR or even 1 in THREE if only poverty were accurately measured by our nation. Instead, we continue to insist on using Mollie Orshansky's research and the related Federal Poverty Line which think that no matter what your income you can still find a place to rent (and for 1/3 your income at that!) and buy food (again for about 1/3 your income!). Either policy wonks are delusional or I want the psychedelics they're using, because their reality seems a lot more fun than mine. I'm IN poverty and it SUCKS. Reality is about half your income goes to rent. Food costs close to twice what the USDA says it ought to cost. And unrealistic "assistance" program guidelines insist that despite realities like these (and my being able to prove their reality) that because the FPL and the resultant guidelines say otherwise, I CAN or at least SHOULD be able to pay for almost SIX THOUSAND dollars per year in medical bills (they suddenly decided I do get Medicaid after all, just with an atrocious spend down of not quite $3000 every six months)! I get just a tiny hair above $14K/year in SSDI. What stone do they figure to pull that blood from? Because if that $6K in available money is anywhere in my budget for ANYTHING, I haven't found it and I've got a long list of potential uses for it (including a lot more than $6K in past due medical bills from Medicare coinsurance payments).
I'd tend to guess an accurate assessment of poverty is at least the current 150% of poverty if not the 200% mark. We've GOT to tank the existing FPL.
Posted by Danetta Amschler on 08/23/2009 @ 12:04AM PT
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Sounds like all reading this agrees with Danetta and I, as no body has different figures. Or can not figure what to write. Is everyone on a vacation?
I guesstimate that instead of 40 million in poverty. there are 120 million + Americans, who can not afford to eat, keep the electricity on, and pay rent.
A bad reporting formula in place 45 years, keeps 70% of American workers Bickering with others. who also cannot afford to pay their humanly unavoidable bills. Check out http://www.vtlivablewage.org/faqs5.html
Posted by jan Lightfootlane on 08/23/2009 @ 10:57AM PT
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I believe the real number is closer to 1 in 3.5
Andre
Posted by Andre Janssens on 08/23/2009 @ 05:40PM PT
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I agree with Andre. It is bad out there now, and for a lot of people, it was never very good.
Posted by S B on 08/23/2009 @ 08:40PM PT
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I would also like to add that the level the government sets to determine poverty is set too low.
http://aspe.hhs.gov/poverty/09poverty.shtml
Masking a problem will never solve it.
Andre
Posted by Andre Janssens on 08/24/2009 @ 05:10AM PT
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The measure of poverty hasn't been right since Mollie Orshansky's report. What many don't realize is that it was written using an already old (at least a year) report about AVERAGES in food expenditures of American families, which she then extrapolated using assumptions about how that would change due to family size and then she added in figures about the rest of a family budget - again using assumptions and presumptions - based on "budgeting standards" like that housing should "ideally" be one third of your household's income as an expenditure (never bothering to verify if that was even how it worked in lower income brackets or across the country, like in urban areas where housing is often more expensive, for example). Yet her report with all its failings was accepted as a grand success and blindly adopted and instituted as the basis of the Federal Poverty Line. No wonder it misses so many. Any one could make assumptions and presumptions and justify them on whatever they wanted and would surely over or under-count by hundreds of thousands if not millions of people. That this is how the FPL was written - and not once in what's now rapidly approaching FIFTY YEARS given a closer look or consideration at adoption of a more accurate measure - is both absurd and irresponsible.
But masking a problem seems to be our government's favorite way of "solving" things. They lie to themselves and to us through changing definitions to change the statistics all the time. Look at how they've rewritten the definitions of who's unemployed, who's homeless, conflicting definitions of disabled and even this painfully inaccurate measure of poverty... It's as if they can make a person's or family's problem fall off of a report then it must not really exist. Totally irresponsible, IMHO and in one of the worst ways too.
Posted by Danetta Amschler on 08/24/2009 @ 08:42AM PT
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You cannot begin to count the amount of delight I take from being agreed with!! Need each of you even just reading to email President Obama tell him the secret is out. There is a contact spot at www.WhiteHouse.gov. Scroll down to the Far right, hit CONTACT it will bring up a form.
Remind you I am delighted with even three Americans Admitting the measuring cup lets out 2/3 or 1 in 3.5 without being counted. Now I wonder- How can we get this idea to Others? I have written a booklet But seem to lack time to get a publisher. I and a group or two I am with will self publish a 100 to 500 copies. I need IDEAS. Here is a flavor of what I say
Can society wipe out poverty? - yes by simply dismissing an old medieval thoughts. that "some people, and some jobs are worthless."
Conference 'reframes' poverty, debunks 'myths'
By Paula Doyle
Poverty is not an intractable problem that society is powerless to overcome, ... http://www.the-tidings.com/2008/062808/poverty.htm
Poverty is nothing more than an upside frame of reference, by those who consider themselves of good pay. Only, $10.00 an hour when it cost $19.40 an hour- to buy all things basic to life, is not a good pay.
1st Modern day Myth - The USA Federal Poverty level, accurately attest to every case where ends cannot meet according to the pay of one job.
Fact
in 1964 Molly Orshansky a forty something your old mathematician in the Social Security Office was assigned the task of creating the first poverty level. For some reason, and thinking any mistakes she made would be undone, in the near future, she counted food cost only.
This caring woman unintentionally designed a measuring cup with a large hole in it. 2/3 of those fall through the measuring cup, without being counted.
Bills before congress as I type these words are asking for the first significant improvement to the poverty level in nearly 50 years. They are called the Utilities bills. Even those are under the actual need but in the right step. They take in many of human needs. Except a single person cannot find a rent and utilities at $577, a month, when the fair market values of 1 bedroom rents are $750 a month.
The cost of food alone, is not adequate enough to pay All needs, even when it is adjusted yearly for inflation. When you adjust and inadequate formula for inflation you still have an bogus number. By the math of wise economist there could be 120 million in poverty-who can not make ends meet. Not 40 million as our inept government would have you believe.
Why would our great government take solace. in presenting a faked number of people in poverty? So we will not do what we did with increased foreclosures. Demand the system be fixed. So the 70% making less then a livable wage will fight and bicker with each other, rather than the fact so many Americans are inadequately paid.
Posted by jan Lightfootlane on 08/24/2009 @ 09:10AM PT
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It's worse that this, Jan. Did you know that they translate the FPL into an allowance of $389 for housing and related expenses when it comes to "assistance programs"? Now just where on the face of God's green earth ANYWHERE in this country is there any sort of housing with all applicable expenses included for $389/mo?!? If anyone can find it, I'll sell all my possessions and hitchhike to get there if need be. Why? Because you're perfectly right about median or even ENTRY LEVEL (which is what it is here) rent being $750/mo, never mind the applicable expenses like telephone and whatever utility is used for heat. Which makes rent ALONE dangerously close to TWICE the housing allowance and all they can tell you is "tough luck" and that "you've overspent".
Posted by Danetta Amschler on 08/24/2009 @ 12:03PM PT
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D -Unfortunately I know That Assistance programs help with one third of the cost- then call the person aided a cheat and thief when they find the other 2/3.
This has been document with governmental own figures. One Study says 1/3 of all 50 states, or 16 states pay less then the fair market value on rent on SSI Payment. TANF follows a similar pattern. And So does General Relief. Many cities have lower income guide lines, then the price of rents. In through by state laws they can pay up to the federal fair market value levels of rents they do not.
Right now I am reading a book about a peasant born in the year 1295 It says in medieval times the workers were hated by those above-Nothing has changed. I bet if historians went back to prehistoric times we would find the rich having negative thoughts about their lessers THIS IS The ATTITUDE Which holds the NIGHTMARE OF POVERTY IN PLACE.
Since the medieval times, peasants Have been thought of as worthless. Isn't it time to change that?
Poverty is caused by a mindset, that those beneath us are dirt. We must fight to overcome eons if bad thinking. We must tell Mr Obama NOW is the Time to fix poverty.
We must also tell people on the right who has tendecacies of violence, we have a successors who will continue where we leave off on poverty. This might end assisinations in our second Civil rights movement
In the civil war Some plantation owner we give free men $50 to fight in their stead. Andre your tongue and cheek expression is half right,if we end poverty, then we would have peace. If our government wants peace all they have to do is wipe out the LOOONNG_G held attitude that "I am better then anyone else."
The would has enough resources to end world poverty
It is great to have One Spot to discuss the poor being undercounted, with other like minded people.
Posted by jan Lightfootlane on 08/24/2009 @ 01:59PM PT
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It will be great to get posters, posting guess they are off on the last summer fun.
Posted by jan Lightfootlane on 08/26/2009 @ 05:53AM PT
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